Reviews

In Tomasz Wolski’s confronting and impressive 1970, realistic puppets of Polish communist officials discuss the violent suppression of an eight-day workers’ strike via actual audio telephone conversations recorded in 1970, thereby placing us, the audience, not in the shoes of the victims, but in those of the ruling executive.

In her CERN-located doc, Swiss Pauline Julier shrewdly avoids dwelling on footage from science meetings, nimbly cutting in archive as well as animation of how the new Collider project will look, also making judicious use of an evocative sound design and score.

Both intriguing and watchable, although the title may perhaps be more provocative than the content, the work is a smart combination of avant-garde experimental art with disturbing reportage of a real life incident that dominated news channels for some time.

An intriguing and lyrical investigation, one which at times feels like a meditation, into German co-pilot Andreas Lubitz's involvement in the mysterious 2015 plane crash in the French Alps which killed 149 people. Review by Nicole Santé.

This elegant and measured portrait of Zinder’s marginalized and dangerous Kara-Kara district takes all the time necessary in getting to know the area, its people and their social life. Acknowledging the poverty and history of violence, director Aicha Macky finds hope in those striving for a better tomorrow.

A thoughtful, engaging and gentle examination of the delicate relationship between patient and healer, Les Guérisseurs hits a much-needed tone of compassion and understanding that seems highly appropriate in these pandemic times.

Though rooted in a very specific time and place (Belarus, 2020), director Paluyan has managed to make his documentary seem timeless, almost absolute.

A documentary which manages the seemingly impossible feat of merging myth and actuality, thereby becoming mythological itself without diminishing the impact of its factual reporting on the disappearing reindeer and reappearing mammoths of the Siberian tundra.

An enthralling and clever deep-dive into the oddly surreal - and also rather worrying – retirement area of Florida called simply ‘The Villages’.

Louis Theroux has the charm, humour and intelligence to offer an alternative insight into a story that remains weird, worrying and at times extremely wild.